Smooth floor coverings have ancient origins. In the Bronze Age (1600-1000 BC) water-worn pebbles were laid as floorings in Crete and also on the Greek mainland. The Greeks, refining this technique between the sixth and the fourth centuries BC, installed decorative pebble mosaics. Such mosaics were also made from marble, serpentine alabaster, some forms of granite, and other stones suitably polished. Timber flooring, originally used in rough form for a strictly functional purpose, was eventually made into smooth boards, and was later used decoratively in the parquetry designs.
In recent times, the use of finished wood floors has declined in favor of linoleum, asbestos tile, vinyl tile floor tile and carpeting, due to the ease of maintaining all of these materials and due to the soft warm feeling underfoot of the last-named. The warm and luxurious appearance of finished wood flooring has been recognized and is still recognized among those who appreciate quality construction and fine building materials. There have been attempts to make floor coverings of synthetic materials such as plastic which resemble wood but these have generally been inadequate for one or more reasons. For example, some wear poorly due to the inability of the material selected to withstand the punishment inflicted by normal walking traffic and any of a variety of activities normally carried on on the floor of the home or commercial building. Others merely resemble wood, appearing even to the casual observer as being a wood simulation. Attempts have been made to make smooth-surfaced flooring materials more resilient underfoot to give a more luxurious, comfortable feel but these attempts have been inadequate due to the deficiencies in physical properties of the materials selected. For example, many rubbery materials contain fillers which interact with materials present in the atmosphere such as moisture, causing undesirable buckling and distortion. This situation would create a tripping hazard which would be intolerable if such an item were used to cover floors, especially where water is commonly present, for example, on walkways near the entrances of buildings.